Chapter 3, part 1 (sorry, I hit the text limit!)
-------------------------------
A cold, aged hand reached out and activated the transcript recording device in the center of the table, immediately followed by an equally cold, robotically emotionless voice.
"CEC Investigation Committee Meeting, under Galactic Government Section C019 - Interview of CEC Detainee #55613 on the matter of the Kellion / Ishimura Repair Mission, dated 11/25/2356."
The hand slid back across the table and came to rest before a large, decorative grey-veined marble ashtray. The spindly fingers wrapped around a half-smoked cigarette, tapping it gently against the side if the ashtray, and brought it towards the lips of a rather grim looking older woman, dressed in the standard clinical white administrative uniform adorned with the CEC logo embroidered over the chest indicating her role as a senior Administration Counselor. Her dark green eyes, framed in ancient crows' feet and dehydrated, spotted skin appeared colder than the vast darkness of space that was visible through the thin slit windows rounding the interrogation room. The old, almost homely-looking woman took a deep drag of the cigarette through pale, wrinkled lips, paused for a moment to relish it, then exhaled it out in a puff of second-hand smoke that permeated the room. Her ice-cold eyes stared hard across the table at the person she was addressing.
"Let's get started. Please state your name and position for the record."
The addressee, dressed in a drab grey medical patient's uniform and slouching uncomfortably in the chair across the table from the old woman, glanced nervously around at all the empty, unsmiling faces that surrounded him - the faces of various council members and medical staff of the CEC - then drifted back to the Counselor. After a moment of hesitation, he replied.
".....Isaac Clarke... Lead Systems Engineer, Concordance Extraction Corporation."
He couldn't help but notice how his voice echoed off the steel walls of the room, reflecting back upon him with a lifelessness that sent a shiver down his spine, as if he were listening to his own dead body replying to him. The surrounding entourage remained silent and still as stone. There was a long pause, and then the woman continued.
"Now, Mr. Clarke... We just need to ask you some questions regarding your recent dispatch aboard the Kellion repair crew to the USG Ishimura. It has come to our attention that there were some... aberrations... in the discourse of the duty of your crew."
The woman's glare fell to a small stack of papers piled up in front of her. Her eyes scanned through the scrawled, hand-written notes for a minute before looking back up at Isaac.
"So... we understand that the Kellion did in fact make contact with the Ishimura. Tell us about what happened there."
"Well... what do you want to know?"
"Let's start at the beginning. Why don't you tell us who was present with you first?"
"It was myself... Kendra Daniels... Captain Zach Hammond... and two other Corporals, I don't remember who they were. I hadn't met them previous to the mission."
The woman quickly jotted down a scribbled, illegible note in the corner of her paperwork.
"And the USG Ishimura... in what condition did you find it?"
Isaac shifted a little in his seat.
"It was locked in orbit around Aegis7. It appeared to be fine from the outside, but when we tried to hail them, we were unable to receive a response. We assumed their transmitting encoder device was malfunctioning, so we docked with it and got on board to find out what was wrong."
"And did you find out what the problem was?"
"Well, once we got on board, we found there were more problems than we anticipated. Almost every system aboard the ship was either down or suspended."
"And what about the crew? Did you find anyone on board?"
Isaac paused, took a small breath.
"Well, I guess we found the crew, if you could call them that."
The Counselor blinked, not one glance left the pages spread out before her.
"You're referring to the Necromorphs? You believe these creatures were actually the crew members?"
"Something like that."
"Yes... well, we've received some sporadic reports on these... Necromorphs. We're not exactly sure what they are, or where they come from, but it has been suggested by some that they are somehow related to the planet. What do you think?"
Isaac shrugged.
"Seems logical to me. After all, its that Marker they wanted in the first place."
"The Marker..."
The old woman mouthed the words quietly in a way that seemed almost haunting to Isaac. Her mind drifted from the conversation for a moment, then returned.
"You've briefly mentioned the Kendra Daniels situation; that you believe she was... part of some covert plan to use your team in the retrieval of the Marker for the government's purposes. Could you elaborate on that for us?"
Isaac became very aware of a growing discomfort in the back of his mind as she probed deeper. Sighing, he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
"Look, I've answered your questions two, three times already. You all have been interrogating me for days. I don't understand why I have to keep repeating myself -"
The woman immediately raised her hand in a condescendingly dismissive manner, and with the other hand ground out her finished cigarette in the ashtray.
"Please, Mr. Clarke. Just... indulge us for a moment."
Isaac sighed, knowing he had no choice. The Counselor was not asking politely so much as she was conservatively demanding from him.
"I already told you. Kendra Daniels was apparently some kind of undercover agent, secretly sent with us to retain the Marker. She told me everything once we were on the Colony. Hammond and I were originally under the impression that she was assigned to us as a computer systems specialist, but in the end she was responsible for the deaths of both Hammond and Kyne, who knows who else - as well as a botched attempt to steal the Marker and leave the planet."
At his statement, the Counselor finally glanced up from her papers in his direction.
"A plan that was "botched" by you?"
"I had to stop her. It was obvious that whatever lives in that planet wanted the Marker back. I couldn't just let her take it away."
She nodded, digesting the hint of aggravation in his voice, then returned her focus to her paperwork.
"That's quite a bold claim, Mr. Clarke. You're basically accusing Ms. Daniels of treason against the CEC as a conspirator in an intergalactic government plan to take control of a holy relic."
Isaac scoffed under his breath.
"Holy relic."
The Counselor noted the tone of disdain and scribbled another unreadable note next to her previous one, then continued.
"What happened to Ms. Daniels, then?"
Isaac sighed. He was not very fond of where this was going.
"She's dead. She was killed when the... the Hive Mind slammed into her."
Isaac choked the last word short, apprehensive to continue. It felt childishly awkward calling the beast by it's human nickname, almost absurd in how hollow and misleading the title really was. As deep as the terrifying memory was ingrained in his mind's eye, he still couldn't help but feel somewhat foolish, unable to properly express the gravity of the situation with the words and names at his disposal. The Counselor lowered her pen and folded her hands.
"The Hive Mind? Sounds like a lot happened down there, Mr. Clarke. We understand you have been extremely loyal to the CEC, with motive to protect our cause, but we do have the greatest faith in that you are in fact giving us the details... in truth."
Isaac's eyes widened a bit and he sat up in his seat.
"Are you accusing me of something? It didn't happen like that."
The Counselor relaxed at Isaac's suddenly alarmed tone.
"There's no reason to get defensive, Mr. Clarke. We're not accusing you of anything; we are simply making a standard inquiry. We currently have no reason to assume this was in any way your fault."
The Counselor fell silent, and Isaac slowly, hesitantly, relaxed his shoulders. Thrown off by her sudden deviation in questioning, he was now fully on guard against her. The silence was broken as the Counselor's voice sounded again.
"Your commanding officer, Zach Hammond, as you've previously mentioned, was killed on the Colony?"
"No, he died on the Ishimura. By one of those things you folks jovially dub as 'Necromorphs'."
"Ah, yes, that's right. Do you think he had anything to do with this... conspiracy you say Ms. Daniels was involved with?
"No... at least, he didn't seem to be. In fact, it seemed like the two of them were pretty much at odds with each other."
"Do you think he suspected her involvement as well?"
"I have no idea. I didn't really have the chance to ask, you know, what with him being splattered against the wall and all."
The Counselor broke a tiny wry smile at Isaac's facetious remark.
|